Our website uses cookies to improve your user experience. If you continue browsing, we assume that you consent to our use of cookies. More information can be found in our Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.

Cameron launches £200bn infrastructure plan

The Government has launched an infrastructure plan it hopes will help unlock £200bn of mostly private sector money over the next five years.

In his Speech to the Confederation of British Industry this morning, Cameron announced the plan which outlines the challenge facing UK infrastructure and the major investments needed to underpin future growth.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “There is one question I want to answer today. Where is the growth going to come from – where are the jobs going to come from?”

The Treasury estimate the plan will need £40bn of private investment per year with the Government supplying a quarter of the funding.

Treasury commercial secretary Lord Sasson says: “We recognise the scale of the challenge and the need to encourage new sources of private sector capital. We are targeting Government’s own investment at a series of bold and critical projects that go to the heart of this vision and support a private sector led recovery.”

£30bn of the public money going into the plan will go to investing in transport, including a high speed rail network, Crossrail and money for rail and road improvements.

Some Government spending is being focused in areas without a track record in the UK.

A £1bn Green Investment bank is hoped to encourage further private sector investment in the renewable sector, with £530m going to providing high speed broadband.

Sasson says: “The role of the Government is clear. It is to specify what infrastructure we need, identify the key barriers to achieving that investment and mobilise the resources, both public and private to make it happen.”

Cameron told the assembled business leaders that British business should have no more vocal champion than the British Government.

He said: “I have put the promotion of British commerce and international trade at the heart of our foreign and economic policy.”

He also said the Government would use all available policy levers to create the right framework for enterprise and investment and to make it easier for new companies to develop.

He said the coalition policies like cutting corporation tax from 24 to 28 per cent, funding 50,000 apprenticeships and reforming regulation reform would improve the economy.

He said: “Add to these our cut in the small business profit rates and the fact we have waived national insurance contributions for new businesses in most areas of the country and you have the conditions to breed confidence and boost creativity.”

Newsletter

Latest from Money Marketing

The Competition and Markets Authority has criticised insurers over “stealth price rises” and costly exit fees for loyal customers. The watchdog looked into areas including cash savings, mortgages and home insurance after charity Citizens Advice raised a so-called “super complaint” over how longstanding customers are treated by financial services organisations. The CMA has recognised that […]

Banking lobbyists have warned that UK banks currently face higher tax rates than international counterparts, and that these could hasten banks’ departures if they remain after Brexit. Reuters reports that research commissioned by UK Finance and carried out by consultancy PwC shows London banks face an effective tax rate on profits of 50.6 percent, above […]

Barclays has been fined $15m (£11.9m) by US regulators after attempts were made to unmask a whistleblower by chief executive Jes Staley. In 2016, a Barclays employee sent two letters regarding concerns over the chief executive’s decision to hire a former colleague to work at the bank. The whistleblower posed questions both over the experience […]

19th December 20188:33 am

Comments

There is one comment at the moment, we would love to hear your opinion too.

Leave a comment

Why register with Money Marketing ?

Providing trusted insight for professional advisers. Since 1985 Money Marketing has helped promote and analyse the financial adviser community in the UK and continues to be the trusted industry brand for independent insight and advice.